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Kagemusha

File:Kagemushatheatricalposter.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Shadow Warrior

is a 1980 Japanese epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class petty thief who is taught to impersonate the dying daimyō Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable clan. Kagemusha is the Japanese term for a political decoy, literally meaning "shadow warrior". The film ends with the climactic 1575 Battle of Nagashino.

OverviewAI-generated

Kagemusha is a 1980 Japanese drama and war film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who also served as screenwriter, film editor, and executive producer. The cast includes Tatsuya Nakadai, Kaori Momoi, Takashi Shimura, and Tsutomu Yamazaki. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Tomoyuki Tanaka, and Kurosawa, the movie was distributed by Toho and Netflix. Principal photography took place in Japan, where the narrative is also set.

The film has a runtime of 180 minutes according to TMDb and 162 minutes according to IMDb. It features a score by Shin'ichirō Ikebe and production design by Yoshirō Muraki. Kagemusha received the César Award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design and Best International Feature Film. It is part of the Palme Dor collection.

Synthesized by Vinony from 39 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, IMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film · TMDB

7.8

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

Released: 1980-04-26180 minDir: Akira KurosawaAction, Drama, History, WarBudget: $6.0MBox office: $4.0M

Cast

  • Tatsuya Nakadai as Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
  • Tsutomu Yamazaki as Nobukado Takeda
  • Kenichi Hagiwara as Katsuyori Takeda
  • Jinpachi Nezu as Sohachiro Tsuchiya
  • Hideji Ōtaki as Masakage Yamagata
  • Daisuke Ryū as Nobunaga Oda

Themes

  • japan
  • samurai
  • army
  • emperor
  • warlord
  • battle
  • impersonation
  • doppelgänger
  • jidaigeki
  • edo period

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Ratings

IMDb

7.9/10

41,022 votes

Year
1980
Runtime
162 min
Genres
Drama, History, War

via IMDb

Key facts

Film.name
Kagemusha
Film.image
Kagemushatheatricalposter.jpg
Film.caption
Theatrical poster
Film.director
Akira Kurosawa
Film.starring
Tatsuya Nakadai
Film.music
Shin'ichirō Ikebe
Film.editing
Akira Kurosawa (uncredited)
Film.runtime
180 minutes
Film.language
Japanese
Film.gross
$33 million ()

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
film
Country of origin
Japan
Original language
Japanese
Screenwriter
Akira Kurosawa
Cinematographer
Takao Saito
Narrative location
Japan
Filming location
Japan
Duration
179
FilmAffinity ID
532261
Distribution format
video on demand
Show 9 more facts
film editor
Akira Kurosawa
title
影武者
executive producer
Akira Kurosawa
distributed by
Netflix
production designer
Yoshirō Muraki
review score
89%
characters
Uesugi Kenshin
assessment
Bechdel test
publication date
1980-10-17
Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 sections
Contents
  • Plot
  • Cast
  • Production
  • Release
  • Reception
  • Box office
  • Critical response
  • Accolades
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

is a 1980 Japanese epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class petty thief who is taught to impersonate the dying daimyō Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable clan. Kagemusha is the Japanese term for a political decoy, literally meaning "shadow warrior". The film ends with the climactic 1575 Battle of Nagashino.

Kagemusha was released to critical acclaim. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival (tied with All That Jazz). It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and received other honours. In 2009 the film was voted at No. 59 on the list of The Greatest Japanese Films of All Time by Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kagemusha” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (10)